Israel is again urged by Washington to update and enlarge its war fleet to catch up with the rapidly changing conditions opposite its shores, where Russia, Iran and Egypt are building up bigger and better armadas.

The Islamic State struck the West again on June 1, when it activated a local Bangladeshi cell for a murderous, hostage-taking attack on a Dakha restaurant to target a large contingent of Italian businessmen.

The Naples Police’s seizure last Friday, Dec. 7 of five containers before they were loaded on an Egyptian freighter shut down two of Iran’s clandestine arms routes to Gaza - from Kosovo and Macedonia via Croatia to a secret depot in Verona, Italy, debkafile reports exclusively. They acted on a tip-off from Israel. More sections of the Iranian arms ring were then rolled up in other parts of Italy. The Egyptian vessel bound for Alexandria was to have unloaded its arms cargo at an unmarked stopover in El Arish.

Military preparations for intervention in the horrendous Syrian crisis are quietly afoot in Washington, Paris, Rome, London and Ankara. President Barack Obama is poised for a final decision after the Pentagon submits operational plans for protecting Syrian rebels and beleaguered populations, debkafile reports. The deaths of two notable journalists helped galvanize the West into action. They died after Syrian artillery located their secret press center in Homs with the help of Russian spy satellites or Iranian electronic measures - and gutted it.

Germany has put its Air Force Tornado warplanes in intensive training for a possible attack on targets in Iran, after taking part last week in a joint drill with the Israeli Air Force and other NATO members at the Italian Decimomannu air base on Sardinia.

Iran, for its part, is gearing up for a gloves-off reprisal against its attackers. DEBKA-Net-Weekly's latest issue out this Friday has exclusive details on this menacing military buildup.
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Israel successfully test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile Wednesday, Nov. 2. Foreign sources say the ICBM tested was an upgraded Jericho 3 able to carry a 750-kilo nuclear warhead to a distance of 7,000 kilometers - further with a smaller warhead. Soon after the test, the IDF announced the Israeli and Italian air forces had concluded a joint maneuver at Sardinia, and a large-scale exercise had just begun to prepare central Israel for missile attack.

The lion's share is promised France of Libya's oil reserves with smaller stakes for Britain, Italy and Qatar. But the rebels may be counting their chickens too fast. First, the war is not yet won and the promises may stay on paper and second, only the US has the advanced technology for getting the oil out of the ground.

The chaotic slipstream of the Arab Revolt is keeping the sensitive oil industry and the nuclear arms race situation in constant turmoil. Saudi Arabia is ready to cripple Iran's oil exports and strike Syria's energy resources. Berlusconi hopes to beat Obama to an deal for Libyan oil by secretly switching his support from the rebels to Muammar Qaddafi.

Three months after the first NATO bombardments in Libya, Italy has called for an immediate halt in hostilities "to allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians." debkafile: Since 90 per cent of NATO's air strikes come from bases and command centers in Italy, Rome's pullout badly jolts the entire war effort. Even if France carries on operations from the aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle and Britain from its air bases in Cyprus, the war on Muammar Qaddafi will be seriously jeopardized.

While no one admits this, the military campaign to topple Muammar Qaddafi has stalled with no solution other than diplomacy. The first peace proposal has come from the coalition's target, Qaddafi himself.

Although the Western coalition has gone beyond just enforcing the no-fly zone, it has not crippled the pro-Qaddafi army or its ability to move large forces across long distances and keep its supply routes open.